


Eden Saloon

by BeastGirl2k14



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: Drug Use, F/F, Prostitution, Western AU, Wynonna Earp AU kind of sort of I guess?, YALL THIS IS ABOUT TO BE A RIDE LEMME TELL U, strip club
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-13 08:43:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7970293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeastGirl2k14/pseuds/BeastGirl2k14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mal left her hometown of Isle Township four years ago. When she and Jay return, what will they find that has changed and what has stayed the same? Oh, and which of their old friends are demons thirsty for Mal's blood and revenge? (And which one is just thirsty for Mal?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. this side of paradise, i'm not here, nor anywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this all in one, but instead I decided to chop this up into chapters...ya know, because why not? Since I have it all written out, it'll update every Monday for the next few weeks.  
> Hope ya'll like it. ;)

Isle Township was nothing like Benjamin "Benevolent Ben" Florian had been expecting.

Honestly, Ben didn't really know what he had been expecting, but it sure wasn't _this_.

Ben had traveled the many miles between Isle and his hometown just yonder, Auradon City, the biggest town in this stretch of dessert and sun, at the request of his oldest and dearest friend. Chad had sent Ben a few telegrams, as many as he could afford in fact, telling him that Isle was just as _bad_ as everyone in Auradon City said it was. _Bad in a the best way_ , that is. At least for Chad.

"Ain't it somethin'?" Chad asked, clapping a hand against Ben's shoulder blade, his rough palm sliding on the silk of Ben's suit jacket, They stared out at the buildings stretching before them, Ben's suitcase gripped tightly in his hand as dust whipped around them. The sun beat down on the wooden buildings, so bright and hot Ben worried they might just catch fire. Although, he didn't think that'd be so bad, with the state all the buildings seemed to be in, plastered with vandalized wanted posters and dirt.

Chad had talked about this place like some kind of paradise for heathens, miscreants, curious youngins and the likes, but, to Ben, _it seems a few spectors short of a ghost town._

"It's...somethin'..." Ben mumbled, squinting out from under the stiff white bill of his hat.

A store, aptly named the General Junk Shop, a few saloons, a sheriff's office and a few unmarked buildings lined the hoof beaten dirt road that seemed to be the main vein of the little township, all in their own levels of disrepair and debautchedment. Compared to the sparkly streets of Auradon CIty--compared to anywhere probably, this place was a dump.

"Hey, this place may be lookin' like another set'a beat up shops and weatha worn people to you, but wait til the sun goes down...then you'll see." Chad grinned that grin of his and Ben sighed. His lips parted like he was about to say something, chastise Chad for being the kind of guy he was or just to say something sarcastic but before he could get a single syllable out, a storm of hoof beats kicking up hot dust and a flurry of purple blew past them. Ben didn't much appreciate how closely a hoof came down near his foot or how closely his nose came to someones shin bone, but complaining about it didn't seem like the best course of action when he turned around to see the two people who road past them.

"What? I beat you fair and square! I was across the barrier line first!" A girl, the girl whose shin Ben had almost gotten real personal with, shouted at her companion. She tugged on her horses reins and the giant black beast whinnied and whipped around to face the boy. She frowned and tossed her hair, blonde and braided together with purple ribbons, over her shoulder in what Ben assumed was meant to be a intimidating gesture.

"Bosh!" The boy shouted back, laughing at the girl's anger. His expression crinkled his entire face into an endearing grin, but the girl didn't seem too endeared at all. Her fingers twitched toward the large revolver strapped to her side, looking comically huge on such a tiny girl. That, and the sash of bullets slung across her chest, the sawed off shotgun strapped to her back and the knives tucked into her boots, seemed like a contradiction to that angel face of hers, despite the angry look on it. "Hey now, pull in your horns, little dragon!" The boy, his long, sable hair tied up to sit on the back of his head in a twisted knot, said, never losing the laughter in his voice. "Don't wanna end up in the calaboose again, do ya?"

The girl seemed to contemplate it for a few moments, her fingers tapping against the pearl handle of her gun, her crystal clear emerald eyes seeming to catch every bit of sunlight that hit them. "Fine, fine. I'd rather bend an elbow at the Bargain Saloon anyways." She conceded, her hand returning to her reigns.

"Hey! Watch where the hell ya'll're goin'!" Chad shouted from Ben's side, his face red and his hair ruffled. The knees of his white suit were stained with dirt and his hands had bits of gravel stuck to them as he wiped them off on his thighs, slapping them hard to emphasize his anger. "Ya'll almost stomped us flat!" Ben hadn't even realized Chad had fallen in the storm of dust, horses and their striking riders, but now Chad was back on his leather congress shoes, stomping them into the dust to punctuate his sentences.

Ben knew the moment the girl and boy's attention was on them that Chad had made another...well... _Chad_. The girl squinted her piercing green eyes at the two of them from beneath her black hat, the brim of it looking like it had been pulled and stretched out straight to flop down a little around her head. With how pale she was, making all of her features all the more striking, Ben wasn't surprised she wanted to keep the sun off of her skin. Her companion on the other hand looked like one of the native folks his father warned him about.

_"The natives around here don't appreciate white skin, son."_

_"Not surprisin'." Ben had said. "Not long ago men who looked like you and I shot them down and took their treasures and land."_

_"Alright, son." His dad had given him that look, the same look he always gave him when Ben mentioned political views that they didn't share...or that he didn't want to talk about. "Get on, then. Tell Chad I said hello."_

_Ben nodded and left his dad's office. He had to be honest, he was excited to go somewhere where he wasn't the Mayor's son._

Other than the boy's tan skin and long dark hair, he looked just like any other cowboy on a horse. He wore what looked to be a maroon leather vest without anything beneath it besides the yellow bandanna tied around his neck and a pair of dirty canvas trousers. Ben briefly entertained the thought that if he had muscles like that guy, he wouldn't bother wearing shirts neither.

The girl was dressed in an outfit that would make Ben's friends back home blush even worse than the boy's did. She wore black bloomer shorts over stockings, the pale skin of her thighs peaking through the runs in them until they met her off-white knee high socks, tucked into her front lace leather boots. A holster strapped to her upper thigh and around her waist held her oversized pearl handled revolver at her hip and two more, smaller revolvers against her back. A tight, velvet looking purple vest and short sleeved white shirt, as dirty and off white as her socks, showed off an impressive amount of cleavage between it's deep V and the lace choker around the girl's neck, that caught both Chad and Ben's wandering eye, though Ben was much hastier about blushing and averting his gaze. Not before he noted the charm hanging from the her neck, a purple crystal resting on her collarbone.

"Well lookie here, Mal." The boy drawled, a grin still on his handsome face. "We got a coupla new boys in town." His grin grew a little more dangerous, reminding Ben very much of the cobra tattooed to his bulging bicep. "By the looks of it, I'd say ya'll were a pair of princes, ain't cha?"

People around here, people who lived in the shadow of Auradon City and the likes, often referred to anyone from Auradon City as princes or princesses (or kings and queens depending on age) due to the fact that Auradonians, and even Ben would admit it, ended up being snobbier and held a little closer to British tradition than the rest of the people in this territory did. The term still made Ben frown though. He'd hoped to come across friendlier people out here.

"I'm not new!" Chad protested. "I've been out here for three weeks now!" He stomped his foot into the ground, kicking up just settled dust and clicking the shiny silver spur strapped to his heel.

"And we've been livin' here all our lives." Mal sneered, looking down at them from her horse. "Well, we used to." She conceded when Jay gave her a look. "Either way, why don't you two run off back'ta wherever the hell you came from."

Ben was paralyzed beneath Mal's emerald stare, even when it met his and she squinted threateningly, sending panic coursing down his spine. The only thing that snapped him out of his daze was Chad's frustrated huff and an elbow in his ribs.

"Amirite, Ben?" Chad growled, looking at him expectantly. He must have been speaking this entire time. Ben blushed at the realization. and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh...yes?" Ben mumbled. He peered out from under the brim of his hat at Jay, who seemed to be laughing at him. His eyes flickered over to Mal, a smirk tugging up at one corner of her mouth.

"Mal, come on. Leave 'em alone." Jay sighed, turning his horse around. "Your mom ain't gonna be too happy if she hears you ran off some of her would-be customers, will she?" Jay's grin took on a mischievous glint.

Mal's eyes widened, but before she could get out a single word, Jay was speeding down the road, clouds of dust illuminated by the setting sun kicked up by his horses' hooves. Mal was off a second later, her huge black horse whinnying loudly as it's hoofs pounded against the ground.

Ben turned his head to look at Chad, who was staring after the two shouting at each other as they jumped off their horses and entered a building a ways down the road.

"That gal is hotter than a day in hell." Chad grinned, wiping not so imaginary sweat off of his forehead.

* * *

 

Mal was 14 when she left Isle Township, the place she was born and raised, with nothing but her horse, the clothes on her back and her best friend, Jay.

Well, she didn't really take Jay with her, he just kind of...tagged along. Not that she would complain...much. Life on the road would have been way worse without Jay's " _There may be no team in I, but you and me are a pair to be reckoned with, you hear?_ " mentality.

Now 18, they were both back in Isle and it's like nothing had changed. Well, a _few_ things had changed. Her friend's were older, some of them dead, most of them doing what their parents used to. Or worse. Other than the two boys they nearly ran over on their way in, the first person to greet Mal and Jay was Freddie, coming out of Mal's mother's saloon, with Harriet Hook herself hot on her heels.

"Mal!" Freddie gasped, stumbling back a few steps, as if she had just about walked into a ghost. "As I live and breathe!" She grinned and threw herself into Mal's arms.

Mal felt a pang of nostalgia at the smell of Freddie's perfume, thick with vanilla and tobacco, the jingle of the jewelry that adorned the girl, and the steady, almost too firm pressure of her embrace.

Harriet smiled at Mal from behind Freddie, giving her a little wave.

Altogether, Harriet looked the same, her long blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail with braids interspersed throughout. A flowy white poet blouse tucked into loose fitting red pants peaked out from beneath her maroon pirates coat. The coat was swirled with golden stitched embellishments to match the small golden hoop hanging from her left ear. Mal remembered the day Harriet's father gave her that coat, just before he got back on his horse and headed back to his ship, disappearing across into the ocean forever. It had been much too big for her then, but now it seemed to fit just right.

When Freddie finally let Mal go from her bruising hug, Mal could name many more ways of how _she'd_ changed. The most notable being the impressive amount of cleavage Mal found herself at eye level with. Mal pulled her eyes away from the open front of Freddie's faded dark pink blouse, tucked into a long red skirt and cinched around her slim waist with a purple sash, and met Freddie's excited hazel eyed gaze.

"You're back!" Freddie grinned, squeezing Mal's shoulders, her rings pressing into Mal's skin. "And you brought Jay back with ya." She said, peering over Mal's shoulder to give Jay a salacious wink.

"Yeah." Mal nodded. "Couldn't get rid'a him. He's like a rash." Mal threw Jay a look over her shoulder and then turned her attention back to Freddie and Harriet. "What're you two doin' at my mom's place."

"Uhm..." Freddie exchanged a look with Harriet and dropped her hands from Mal's shoulders, suddenly looking sheepish as her light hazel eyes avoided meeting Mal's.

"We were just vistin' a friend." Harriet mumbled, pushing Freddie forward with a hand on her lower back."But we've gotta go open up Freddie's daddy's place, so." The sound of the door opening behind Mal seemed to spur Freddie on to make her escape, promising to check in on Mal later.

"O-okay." Mal's eyebrows scrunched together, confused.

* * *

 

"Hey! You two just about trampled us and didn't give us an apology!" Chad shouted, pushing passed two girls hurrying out of the door. Ben waited his turn, holding the door open for them.

When Ben stepped into the foyer of the saloon, Mal was turning on her heels, the click of her revolver's hammer being pulled back into place being the only warning Chad had before the muzzle of said revolver was mere centimeters from his nose. Chad stared down the barrel, his pupils dilating as his face warped with fear and shock. Ben's eyes went comically large as he froze in place next to Chad. 

"The only thing I have to give you, prince, is a bullet to that charmin' mug of yours." Mal snarled through her teeth, punctuating her sentence by pressing the muzzle of the revolver against Chad's sweating forehead.

Chad puts his hands up in surrender immediately, his face going ghost white in fear as Mal stared down her gun at him with what he could only describe as chilly indifference. Or maybe boredom. Both made his jaw flex with panic as he stared into her huge green eyes, looking for any indication that she wouldn't shoot him down like a dog.

Jay's laughter broke the tension rising in the room, and Mal's face cracked into a smirk.

"Good boy." She took a moment to enjoy the expression on Chad's face, her smirk turning into a full on grin.

Mal turned on her heels and pushed the doors to the saloon open, walking into clouds of smoke and music hanging thickly in the air.

Jay was still laughing as he followed Mal into the dim saloon, winking at Chad and Ben as he brushed passed them.

Chad let out a long breath, blinking rapidly for a few moments before he glanced over at Ben. Ben put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "You okay?"

Chad's face stretched into a smirk: "I think she likes me."

* * *

 

Mal had never liked the Bargain Saloon, not just for the...kind of on the nose name, but also because of the way it was at night, when Jafar closed down the General Junk Store to take up his night shift as the manager of the Garden of Eden, a set of rooms and halls in the back of the Bargain Saloon full of willing boys and girls, drugs and drinks crafted by none other than Madame Grimhilde, the Queen of intoxication, and anything you could ever desire at any hour of the night.

And who organized it all? None other than Mal's mother herself, the Serpent of the Garden, Amalia "Maleficent Mal" Fae. And what was it like having the Serpent of the Garden as your mother? Well, Mal might associate it to getting dragged behind a horse slowly, through broken glass, while everyone you know watches and asks if they can get discounts on services at the Garden. But that may be a _bit_ dramatic.

Maleficent was always too busy running the Bargain Saloon and the Garden of Eden to ever pay Mal any attention though, to be abusive like Cruella and Jafar, or to torture her emotionally like Madame Grimhilde, or even to really care when she left town for four years.

Mal remembered the last thing her mother had said to her, four years ago with her satchel full and her horse ready.

"Can I have a vial of your blood? To...uhm, remember you by." When Mal had refused, Maleficent waved her off angrily and went back to her opiate induced stupor. She said one last thing before Mal was fully out of the door though; "See you on the solstice, dear."

Mal had thought she'd never come back here, that she'd buried this in her past and she never planned on digging it up. But Isle had been calling to her recently, and when she and Jay found themselves near by, she just couldn't resist it's pull.

Here she was, standing in the middle of her mother's saloon, threatening to break the bartender's fingers if he didn't tell Mal where Maleficent was.

"Mallory, Mallory, Mallory!" Her voice cracked through the room like lightening, raising the hair on Mal, Jay, Ben and Chad's skin simultaneously. "There's really no need to harm Diaval every time you enter my saloon, dear!"

For some reason, Ben was surprised to hear Maleficent speak with a British accent. He was in no way unaccustomed to them. His mother and father still had bits of a French accent in the way they spoke, and his wet nurse and godparent, Mrs. Potts, had a very posh accent from the mother country. But the women in front of him, short and pale like Mal, with the same piercing green eyes and sort of...terrifying indifference, with a purple scarf wrapped around her head and a flowing, black shaw, with purple and green details embroidered into it, draped over her tiny frame, seemed like she should be speaking in tongues rather than a well maintained British lilt.

"Mother." Mal greeted coldly, releasing the struggling bartender's fingers. As soon as he had them back, he was running them through his slicked back black hair, muttering under his breath about ungrateful brats and slipping poison into drinks the next time he gets a chance.

"Is that any way to treat your mother after four years of abandoning me?" Maleficent lamented dramatically, throwing a hand over her eyes. Ben didn't miss the way Mal's hand twitched near her gun or the way Jay had stopped laughing and smiling for the first time, now stiff and uncomfortable looking.

"I'm here for my father's things." Mal's eyes looked even harder and more indifferent as they stared at her mother through the haze of smoke drifting through the saloon than they had when she stared at Ben and Chad earlier. "And for Cruella." She produced a folded, worn piece of paper from the pocket of her tight vest. Her gloved hands deftly unfolded it and held it out for Maleficent to raise an eyebrow at.

"Of course!" Maleficent straightened up, and odd light in her eyes. "Finally prepared to take your father's mantel, are you?" Mal just nodded in response, her spine looking uncomfortably straight. "Well, I wouldn't want to hold you back from your destiny, or your money, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to dig through many chests and trunks to find where I've hoarded away your father's things." She paused, her eyes passing over all four of them as Mal tucked the paper back into her vest. "Why don't you and your friends go enjoy the Garden for a few hours while I attend to that, hm? On the house."

Chad's jaw dropping was almost audible and everyone's eyes flickered to him in unison.

"This place has taken all the cash and gold I brought with me!" He explained as he turned to Ben. "I've had to have my parents send me more twice!" His face broke into a grin and Ben was a little worried about how giddy he seemed. "A free night is like a gift from god!" He raised his palms toward the ceiling.

"Not quite." Maleficent murmured. Mal and Maleficent's eyes met again and Mal hated how she wanted to flinch away instantly. "Go on then, Mal. Have fun."

Before Mal could refuse and demand her mother let her find her father's things on her own, Jay tugged on her belt. "C'mon, Mal. Why don't we enjoy ourselves for a night? These past coupla weeks have been tough."

Mal wanted to struggle, to insist that they get what they came for and leave as soon as possible, but the laughter and music and _moans_ coming from behind the red curtains in the back of the saloon enticed her enough to distract her while her mother disappeared into the shadows of the hall she'd come from.

"Alright, alright, alright." Mal conceded finally, far more interested in the prospect of cushioned surfaces and alcohol they hadn't stolen from a bar they'd destroyed while hunting down a bounty, than chasing after her mother.

* * *

 

The curtain grazed over all of them as they entered the Garden, and it was like the world outside was falling away with it. Their senses were immediately assaulted by loud music, played by a very enthusiastic band tucked in the corner of the large main room that opened up around them, the thick smell of marijuana, strong spirits and tobacco, and the sight of boys and girls on stage and around the room, in various states of undress and in various states of involvement with the Garden's patrons.

Mal's jaw flexed as she recognized a few familiar faces on the stage and around the room. The one that really made her grind her teeth was a freckled one. A messy shock of white hair and warm brown eyes, looking far too open and innocent for a place like this, caught Jay's eye too, and Mal could feel him stiffen next to her. Their accidental companions didn't seem a bit put off by any of it. Ben's cheeks may have been a bit flushed, and he was avoiding looking anywhere for too long, but he clearly wasn't all that bothered by it.

Chad waltzed in from behind them like it was home, sweet home, tugging Ben by the wrist in after him. "You've gotta see this!" He insisted as they disappeared behind a tall booth across the room.

"I guess we shouldn't be all that surprised." Mal muttered to Jay.

No, it wasn't terribly surprising that Anthony Tremaine was one of the boys unbuttoning his trousers and snapping his suspenders against his tan skin for a particularly interested crowd of women, and a few men.

It wasn't all that surprising that Ginny Gothel was serving drinks in her underwear to rowdy patrons sitting at the booths and tables interspersed through the main room, an annoyed look seeping into her features anytime she didn't think anyone was looking at her.

It wasn't surprising in the slightest that Gaston Jr. and Gaston III were doing a joint "sexy strongman" act on the main stage for an enthralled audience.

And it wasn't surprising that Cruella had dumped Carlos De Vil into a place like this.

Mal had no doubt that Carlos ended up here much how the rest of these familiar faces, and unfamiliar ones too, did: sold by their parents to pay off a debt, or abandoned by their parents and forced to work here for room and board.

Mal's nose crinkled of it's own volition as she glanced around the room, running a hand through her bangs. Her eyes didn't find the one face she'd been looking for since the moment she walked back into city limits, and relief washed through her body like a cool breeze. Jay, on the other hand, was still tense and staring across the room at freckled skin.

"Do you reckon he remembers us?" Jay asked, watching Carlos nervously serve a few drinks to a man shouting about how _the service was better in Westleton_. (Or maybe it was Weasletown.)

Anthony, with his course, dark hair, cropped close to the sides of his head and flowing in long, waving tendrils on the top, murmured something into Carlos' ear and then disappeared behind another set of curtains pushed into the far back corner of the main room.

"I reckon it's near impossible he doesn't." Mal mumbled. She understood Jay's hesitance. She felt the pangs of guilt echoing through her chest at the sight of the freckle faced boy scurrying around between bar and tables.

They'd left Carlos, the youngest friend they had and the one in need of their protection the most, and all of their other friend's to rot here in Isle. Mal had been more than a little surprised when Harriet and Freddie had greeted them so warmly. She doubted they'd be as well received by Carlos or the other person they'd let down the most when they packed up and left in the middle of the night four years ago.

"Why don't y'all take a seat, yeah?" A voice behind their back startled them both into action, Mal's fingers wrapped around her revolvers handle before she'd even turned around fully to see who had addressed them.

"Coralee?" Jay breathed in disbelief at the sight before them. "Coralee Hart?"

"Cora's just fine, sweetie." The girl said, giving them a once over with those dark green eyes of hers. "Can I get y'all anything to drink?" She asks, tugging absentmindedly at her short skirt under their scrutiny.

"Uhm...a whiskey, I guess." Jay said, clearly upset that Cora hadn't run to hug him like she used to. But Mal could see the Cora they'd left four years ago was way different than the girl standing in front of them now. It wasn't even the addition of new scars on her creamy skin or the change in her height and figure. No, it was the look in her eye. The light that used to be there...Mal frowned when she saw how dim that light had become.

"Comin' right up." Cora disappeared into the crowd around the stage the Gaston's were doing push ups on, headed toward the bar.

 _That's more like it._ Mal thought bitterly. _Pretendin' she didn't know us, that's the kind of reception I expected._

_*_

They found Chad and Ben seated at a booth near one of the stages, Ben still blushing furiously into his gin as Chad's eyes roamed over every exposed body that passed by.

"Ain't it a beautiful place?" Chad sighed dreamily, leaning his cheek against his hand. "Every fantasy you ever had, reality and shit." His eyes snapped up to meet Mal and Jay's gazes as they approached the table. "You two are lookin' mighty down for people meant to be enjoyin' the Garden!"

"Shut up." Mal said without much bite or conviction as they took a seat in the booth. "Hope you don't mind us sittin' here. There isn't room anywhere else. This place is packed like sardines." Mal didn't sound like she cared too much whether or not Chad and Ben minded if they were sitting there or not.

"Y'all alright?" Ben asked, lowering his voice as if he were telling a secret.

"Fine." Jay and Mal said in unison.

 _Yeah, that's real convincing._ Ben thought as he stared at the side of Mal's face.

"Hey, baby. I was told you could deserve some time behind the curtain." A girl, tall and lean, with freckles scattered across her nose and red hair rippling down her shoulders, grinned wide and shark-like at Chad as she tugged him out of his seat. He beamed back at them as the girl dragged him away, giving them a big thumbs up.

"Really?" Ben asked, baffled. "Just like that?" He looked around at the two of them. "This place is...alright."

When Ben's eyes roamed over to Jay, his eyebrows raise on his forehead at the sight of the boy's expression. His face looked pale and his wide eyes were glued to something across the room. Ben's eyes followed his gaze curiously. He peered past a flurry of curtains in the far corner of the room to see two faces peaking out, one familiar and another not so much. Maleficent was conversing with a stout man, dressed in dirty silk robes and jewels that Ben could tell were fake even across the room. The man, tan skinned with a salt and pepper beard and salt and pepper hair peaking out from under his turban, nodded at something Maleficent said, grinning wickedly, and disappearing deeper into whatever was behind the curtain.

"Mal." Jay whispered.

"I know. I saw him earlier." She said. "Don't worry about it." Ben's eyes flickered over to Mal's lap, where Jay's hand was wrapped up with hers, there gloved palms and bare fingers pressed together firmly like if they let go, one of them would go toppling off of whatever precarious emotional ledge returning to their home town had put them on.

"He looked like he was schemin' with your ma." Jay said, sounding a little stronger, a little less absolutely terrified. "They ain't ever up to no good, and you know it."

"I know it." Mal nodded and looked around, even glancing up as if she was worried someone was going to drop something on their heads. "Probably just tryin' to distract us long enough to warn Cruella...Or get in on the bounty." Mal chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment as her eyes darted around for some more subtle details, the dimples in her cheeks deepening as she flexed her jaw. "Little do they know that we know where alla Cruella's hideouts are."

Of course they knew where Carla "Cruella" De Vil hid when lawmen, the non-corrupt type, (corrupt like the 'sheriff' of Isle, Sheriff Wolfgang Nottingham, who was currently sitting across the room from Mal with smoke curling out from his lips and one of the Garden Girl's hands down his pants) blew through town. When they were kids, they used to steal Cruella's maps and explore them, looking for treasure and escape from Isle.

* * *

 

Mal was finally relaxing, her shoulders unfurling as she leaned back into the booth and let whatever was in her glass take it's work on her body. Despite seeing so many friends here, the Garden wasn't so bad. Definitely not the worse place Mal and Jay had found themselves in, that's for sure. And who were Jay and Mal to judge what their old friends did? They'd probably done that and 10x worse.

And the one face that Mal hadn't seen between puffs of smoke and the clashing of bodies and the flutters of curtains, well that one face being absent from the crowds glancing at them either with fear (maybe their bounty hunting reputation hadn't made it here yet, but their old ones still stood strong among the other ghosts from their pasts.) or curiosity made it easier for Mal to---

"And now, ladies and gentlemen." Jafar's voice startled Mal and Jay back into their tense postures and darting eyes, strung tight like bow strings."Or whatever the hell you beasts are!" Hearty laughter rang out through the Garden. Mal and Jay stared wide eyed at the stage Jafar was standing on, in flowing silk robes and a thick cigar pinched between his thumb and pointer finger. "Now presenting our star girl, the princess of lust, the apple of the Garden: Evie!"  Ben's spine ached just looking at them, his teeth throbbed at the thought of how roughly they must have been grinding theirs, and his fingers flexed at the sight of Mal's knuckles going white as she dug her fingernails into the table. 

And there she was. Taller than she was the last time Mal and Jay had found themselves hopelessly staring at her, with longer hair and tanner skin, laid bare for everyone to see without a glint of shame in her eyes. Evie Manza.

Mal's mouth went dry and her heart felt like it was trying to break out of her rib cage with a hammer. Jay must have felt much the same because his hand was sweaty when he slipped it back into Mal's and she could practically hear it when he swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat. Evie winked at someone who hollered particularly hard for her and then twirled her finger in the air next to her head. The man seated at the piano across the room turned back around, cracked his fingers loud enough for Mal, Jay and Ben to hear and then began to tap out a slow, sultry tune.

 

 

"I'm dedicatin' this song to two of my oldest and _dearest_ friends." Evie's eyes suddenly landed on Jay and Mal, undeniably. "Jay and... _Mal_." The way she said Mal's name, breathy and low, sent a jolt up her spine. Evie blew a kiss her way before beginning her show, and Mal was _transfixed_.


	2. heart beat is razor thin, hot heat, you make me high

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> STRIPPING. THAT'S WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS. IT'S STRIPPING.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm so sorry this is late! I went on an unexpected trip and asked a friend to keep this updated for me but I guess he forgot. This is a sort of long chapter to make it up to ya'll and then we'll be back to Monday updates.

_"Jay...and Mal."_

"Ya'll know that biddy?" Ben gasped, disbelief snapping his head to the side to gape wide eyed at Mal and Jay's profile.

They didn't answer, just stared ahead at Evie as she started to sing, her voice causing audible dreamy sighs throughout the crowded saloon. Ben could understand why. Her voice sounded exactly how he imagined an angel's would. A fallen angel, perhaps. One that looked at you with what Ben could only describe as _Lusty Eyes_.

" _You finished the show._ " Evie sang, her eyes glinting in the stage lights.

" _You rinse out your tights_." Something about her voice had Ben relaxing down into the stain cushions of his seat, forgetting about his anxious companions and letting his mind only swirl with thoughts of this girl with her shiny dark hair and her sparkling koal lined eyes.

" _You dive into a dive and raise a toast to better nights._ " The girl steps down the wooden stairs slowly, every step deliberate, the bustle of her dress grazing the steps as she went.

" _You get a little drunk and maybe start a few fights._ " Evie pats the cheek of one of the  _sexy strongman_  as she passes him. He flexes his bicep at her and her lips stretch into a smile as she continues singing.

" _But you grin and bear it._ " She tugs off one of her long, blue elbow gloves, finger by finger, and tosses it into the crowd, earning herself a wolf whistle. She does the same to the other.

"Mal, you're hurting me." Jay mutters, suddenly breaking Ben from the trance he'd fallen into. He shook his head, as if trying to clear it, and looked over at the two of them. Mal was letting go of Jay's hand, muttering some apology under her breath as he shook his fingers out, but neither of their eyes left the girl making her way through the crowd. They seemed transfixed, but in a different way than the rest of the saloon did. Where lust and infatuation swirled across the gaping faces of the crowd, shock and what could be fear colored Mal and Jay's.

 _They must have some kind of history with that girl._ Ben mused.

" _You run for the train. The one you just missed._ " Evie's voice continued even though they couldn't see her anymore from their table through the three tall men Evie was surrounded by.

" _You're out of cigarettes,_ " Evie comes back into view through a few parted bodies. Jay spots her plucking a cigarette out of a man's hand, taking a long drag and then snuffing it out on the table. The man doesn't seem a bit upset as he stares up at her with a dreamy look on his face.

" _You've got a headache and you're pissed._ " She leans down, no doubt giving the man a generous view of her cleavage, and runs her hands through his curly hair.

" _You lie awake counting all the bald heads you kissed,_ " Evie dipped down suggestively and Mal loses sight of her in the throng of bodies for a few seconds, before she comes back up, shimmying her shoulders. "But, you grin and bear it." Evie lets go of the man and continues her dance across the saloon. 

" _Wake up! Quick, smell the coffee!_ " She reached up to tug on the zipper of her dress at her side, tugging it down slowly to reveal more of her corset. Mal's breath caught in her throat. " _It's a brand new day!_ " Evie tugged the zipper all the way down and winked at the crowd, gathering around her like hungry wolves.

" _If you wake up lonely, that's the price you pay!_ " She held out the last note for an impressively long time, twirling around and letting her dress fall away like a much more _risque_ version of Cinderella. The dress pooled around her ankles, leaving her in her dark blue corset and her frilly black under skirts that barely brushed her mid thigh. She kicked off her shoes and spun gracefully on her feet, still covered by her black knee high socks.  " _And you will!_ " She pointed at a man across the saloon, who laughed out a puff of smoke and dramatically gripped his chest, feigning pain from an invisible arrow into his heart as Evie winked at him.

" _You run for the train,_ " Her fingers reached up to begin untying the blue ribbon lacing up the front of her corset " _It's a quarter to two._ " She start pulling the ribbon out of her corset, the front of it coming more and more open, showing off more and more of her cleavage. " _You slap a pound of wall paint on and barely make your cue,_ " The ribbon comes loose in her hand and the corset is pulled off of her by Anthony and Carlos, now dressed in matching outfits-- _Well, if you can call black trousers and suspenders an outfit._ Jay thought as the boys tossed the corset and ribbon away and began dancing behind Evie. Even louder whoops and hollers raised in the air as the boys snapped their suspenders and gyrated their hips.

" _You hit the stage and smile._ " Evie smiles as widely as she had the entire performance at Carlos, who blushes and ducks his head a little. Jay wonders if it's because Evie was now left in only a loose white shirt covering her upper body or if it was because he hadn't expected to be given attention over paying customers. " _'Cause boys, what else can you do?_ " Evie throws a smirk over her shoulder at Anthony. " _Or say grin and bear four shows a day._ " They stomp their feet in unison and pose, leaning against each other, taking a moment to bask in the cheering and lusty adoration coming their way from the saloons enraptured patrons.

"Well, hello, boys." Evie broke away from Anthony and Carlos and strutted toward a pale man with hair that almost seemed to be tinged blue, like a ravens feather. It jutted up from his head, like he'd combed it to model a match's flame. He puffed on his sugar as Evie neared him. "Do you like my song?" Evie asked, her hands coming up to press against either side of the pale man's face, stroking his cheeks as he smiled almost smugly up at her from his seat, smoking curling from his lips. "It's just something I had to...get off my chest." She said, and shimmied her shoulders, drawing the man's eyes down to her cleavage.

She let go of the man's face and smiled, smug and satisfied with her little joke. She bound back to the stage, joined by Carlos and Anthony again, each of them facing a different direction as they danced in unison.

"You know what part of the show it is!" Evie grinned. The audience gathered around, hungry faces hollering at the three of them. Dollars, handfuls of coins, roses and cigars were held up in hands jutting from the crowd, some being thrown onto the stage at Evie's feet. Her smile widened on her face.

" _Oh, wake up, quick, change your costume!_ " The trio's hips gyrated in unison until they all dipped to the floor, Evie throwing a grin over her shoulder at Carlos, some inside joke or shared knowledge making them both grin. " _Second act is on!_ " They bounced a few times and Evie ran a hand down her body and then halfway back up her thigh before she stood up again, earning her louder cheers.

Mal swallowed thickly, her eyes glued to the three performers--glued to Evie. She felt helplessly enraptured, watching her dance and smile and sing, showered in riches and attention from the saloon's patrons. She felt uncomfortably warm, her back and face damp with sweat.

" _Life ain't just a rat race, it's a marathon!_ " Evie swung her hips left and right as she ran her hands up her sides and then raised them above her head, belting out the last note as Anthony and Carlos danced behind her.

  
" _And then you're gone!_ " They bent over in unison and then snapped back up, Evie's hair fanning out as she whipped her head back. It seemed liked every patron of the garden reacted audibly to the vision, Mal catching Ben's attention as she let out a low groan. _Is_ _she not enjoying this? She almost looks afraid? Turned on but afraid._

" _So pity yourself,_ " They bopped their knees, Evie's hand on her hip as she sent another wink toward a girl standing a few feet from the stage, looking sheepish compared to the rest of the audience. " _But know in your gut,_ " The trio gyrated their hips suggestively again. " _That no one ever died because their life was in a rut!_ "

Evie walked to the edge of the stage as Anthony and Carlos continued dancing behind her. " _And learn a little lesson from a gal who says 'what the hell'!_ " Evie belted out. " _Grin and bear it, grin and bear it, grin and bear it!_ " She punctuated each _'grin and bear it'_ with a pop of her hip or a thrust of her chest, driving the audience absolutely mad. " _Grin and bear it! Four shows a day!_ " The performance came to and end with Evie holding the last note until she couldn't anymore, shimmying and bending over to flash her cleavage and grin into a man's face, as the boys came and posed next to her. 

Mal and Jay stayed stock still, staring at Evie as she straightened up, smiled awfully shy for someone who just performed a musical strip tease in front of what seemed to be everyone in Isle, and turned around to disappear into the curtains behind the stage. Mal, jaw clenched painfully tight, let out a long breath and Ben worried she'd been holding it the whole performance.

"Well...that was somethin'!" Ben laughed, loosening the bolo tie around his neck. His laughter slowly tapered off as his eyes surveyed his tablemates. "Ya'll look like you've seen a ghost!"

"You could say that..." Mal mumbled, frowning down into her drink.

"A stripping ghost...two actually." Jay said, his voice hardly above a whisper.

* * *

 

Mal barely felt like she had time to learn how to breathe again between Evie disappearing and Evie suddenly reappearing. She was now (thankfully) wearing her corset again instead of just her open fronted white shirt. The outfit still didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. Mal could see a vast majority of her thighs between her thigh high socks, trimmed in red lace, and the short front of her skirt, trimmed in, _you guessed it_ , red lace.

 _Evie always was so fashion minded_.

The rest of the skirt reached down to just above her ankles, brushing the tops of her lace front boots. Mal was so busy admiring the architecture of her outfit that she didn't even notice it getting closer to her until Jay's elbows impacted her ribs.

"Ow, what the--"

"Evie's comin', act natural or somethin'." Jay whispered harshly into her ear before turning back to the approaching girl, charming smile on his lips.

Ben had skittered off to who-knows-where in search of a ' _men's washroom_ ' minutes before, (Jay was worried that if that's what he asked for in a place like this, he'd be led to something completely different from what he had in mind.) and Jay now desperately wished he and Mal weren't alone in this.

"Hello!" Evie greeted cheerily, almost instantly throwing Jay and Mal off. "You're mama told me you were here." She stopped a mere step away from the table, close enough that Jay could now see all the details embroidered into the fabric of her skirt. When he looked up at her. her eyes were focused solely on Mal, intense and dark.

"Uh..." Mal's fingers were digging into Jay's thighs underneath the table, and Jay would have taken this opportunity to make fun of Mal for getting all tongue tied in front of a pretty (and scantily clad) girl any other day, but his own words seemed to be escaping him as Evie smiled expectantly at the pair of them.

"Yeah, we're just in town for the night, collecting some of Mal's daddy's stuff and--" Mal delivered a sharp blow to his ribs with her elbow and he choked down his words again. "And reconnectin' with some old friends." Jay substituted in a half truth. Evie didn't seem too convince, and Jay was reminded how those warm brown eyes of hers seemed to see all, know all and judge all. He swallowed thickly under their scrutiny, fighting to keep from looking away. He'd stared down a cobra before, this girl shouldn't be too much worse, right?

"Mhm. Well, it's nice to see you two again." Evie grinned at them and it almost blinded Jay to the light that glinted in her eyes. _Almost, but not quite_.

"Senora Serpiente--Er. You're mama told me to make sure you two were well taken care of." Evie said, the normal raspy purr to her voice coming out ten fold as she leaned over and rested her hands on the table. Jay fought hard to keep his eyes above Evie's collarbones or down at his drink, as he was sure Mal was doing next to him. He nodded and tried to smile back at the girl, even though she wasn't looking at him. "Anything you need?" She asked, smirking especially hard when her eyes met Mal's.

Mal tried to swallow down whatever had formed in her throat at the sight of Evie and had gotten worse when she was close enough for Mal to be able to smell her perfume and see all the flecks of red and gold in Evie's eyes. She couldn't even pull her hand away as Evie's began to slide across the table towards it. Something in Mal's brain was screaming for her not to let Evie touch her, that if she did touch her, she'd be a goner for sure. Unfortunately, _or fortunately_ , neither strong will nor self preservation caused Mal to break whatever trance Evie had put her in. Instead, it was the sight of a man leading a pale girl behind one of the curtains in the back just over Evie's shoulder, catching Mal's eye. Normally Mal wouldn't have cared, except for when she saw two distinctive marks on the side of the girl's neck.

"Jay!" She whispered, snapping her head away from Evie. "Jay, there are demons here." She said when he turned to her with an incredulous look on his face. Her hand was already on her revolver, pulling it halfway out of it's holster before a hand came down to stop it.

"You can't go shooting anyone and everyone you suspect is a demon!" Jay whispered. "Especially in a place like this!"

Damn Jay and his morals and his common _fucking_  sense.

Mal opened her mouth to say something, probably along the lines of what was going through her head, when a warm body was suddenly pressed to her side.

"What are you two talking about?" Evie asked curiously, leaning a little too close to Mal for Mal to be able to...well, to be able to think about all the things she wasn't able to do with Evie so goddamn close.

"How I really need my daddy's things." Mal murmured after a long few seconds. She weighed her options for a moment before crawling over Jay's lap to slide out of the other side of the booth, kicking and kneeing him a few times as she did.

"Ow." Jay said quietly as he was suddenly left alone with Evie and _those eyes of her._

* * *

 

"Honestly, Mallory." Maleficent sighs. "I offer you a free night at my fine establishment and you're still so concerned with your father's things!" Maleficent threw a hand over her eyes, the dramatic movement emphasized by her long shawl sleeve. "How did such an ungrateful beast come from my loins." She lamented.

Mal's nose crinkled and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the tiny woman's antics. "Mother, please." She said. "Just, give me my daddy's things so Jay and I can be on our way." Mal really didn't care if there were demons in Isle. " _There have always been and will always be demons in Isle, even if we kill 'em all._ " Her daddy had said to her once. She knew even then what he meant.

But she'd come here for two things; her father's things and Carla 'Cruella' De Vil, dead or alive. She'd get both and be out of this town before the sun rose, mark her words.

"Fine, you little wretch!" Maleficent groaned. "I will go search for your father's things now. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of your time at the Garden." Maleficent held open the curtain back into the main room. "Ah ah ah, I won't take no for an answer and I won't accept your help finding your father's things." Maleficent held up a pale finger to stop Mal from speaking "Go on!" She all but shoved Mal back into the room.

Mal turned around and just barely caught sight of Jafar coming to Maleficent's side as the curtain fluttered closed in her face. She shut her mouth and sighed. 

_This is gonna be a problem._

Mal flexed her jaw and turned back around, clenching her fists as she all but stomped toward the table. Jay was sitting there alone, looking pale and uncomfortable, two words Mal didn't usually associate with Jay.

_Great. Gotta deal with whatevers goin' on with Jay and oh god it's Evie._

Mal's boots scuffed hard against the dirty wooden floor as she forced herself to a complete stop. It was too late to try and make a quick escape and there was absolutely no way Evie hadn't seen her and wasn't currently walking toward her with a huge smile on her face and--- _fuck._

"Come on." She whispered as she grabbed Mal's hands, probably ignoring how sweaty they were. "You get a private show, on the house. Gift from the Serpent and the Sultan." Evie's smirk made Mal's mouth go dry as she was tugged across the dim and smokey saloon.

_Well...I'm fucked._

* * *

 

A huff of air puffed passed Mal's lips as her back hit the padded service of what seemed to be a long couch lining the walls of a small, candle lit room. She tried to stand up immediately, but surprisingly strong hands on her shoulders shoved her back down.

"Stay still, little dragon." Evie ordered, and something in Mal immediately wanted to comply, as Evie smiled at her, her hands now gentle and caressing across her shoulders.

 _If Jay could see me takin' orders from anyone--especially Evie, he'd be laughing his fucking ass off._ Mal thought sourly as Evie unclasped the skirt around her waist and tossed the garment somewhere into the shadows.

"Evie, you really don't have to do this." Mal drawled, pushing her body further back into the cushions behind her as Evie slid forward, snakelike, straddling Mal's lap, with her knees on either side of Mal's hips, effectively keeping her in place. "I won't tell my mother if you don't." Mal tried to laugh, make light of the situation, but Evie seemed determined, running her gloved fingers down Mal's arms. She didn't respond either, just took the tip of one finger of the glove between her teeth and tugged it off of her hand. She did the same with the other and Mal found herself hopelessly enthralled by the flash of Evie's teeth and the flicker of her tongue against her lips when she noticed Mal watching.

Mal almost wanted to flinch away when Evie's fingers reached up to stroke her cheeks, trailing along the curve of her cheekbones and then along the dimples caused by Mal's nervous smile. She wanted to flinch away, she did, but the sensation of Evie's soft fingertips against her skin sent waves of relaxation through her body like the effects of alcohol straight from Evie's touch to her head.

Something in her mind, rattling around between _Oh, fuck, my mom totally planned this which means assuredly that something bad is goin' to happen_ and _Oh, good Lucifer, this feels real nice and oh, wow, Evie is so pretty_ was telling her that this was _capital_ _W_ wrong!

Mal was vaguely aware that she should listen to the voice in her head saying that she should get out of this room as quickly as possible, that that glint in Evie's eye was much more dangerous than Mal had been suspecting...but all of that was silenced by Evie leaning forward, effectively destroying whatever semblance of personal space Mal had as she suddenly found herself sharing Evie's breathes.

"Don't you want to kiss me, Mal?" Evie whispered.

_Fuck._


	3. I just know you got to taste like candy, candy girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ya know, this is just happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post again!

Evie's eyes were intoxicating, locked onto Mal's as she traced Mal's pouty bottom lip with one of her fingers.

 _Yes, yes, yes, yes._ Mal thought desperately.

Mal suppressed a shiver as Evie continued speaking, her voice dropping a few octaves as she leaned just a bit closer to Mal: "Remember when you stole a kiss from me when we were kids?" She said, her voice growing breathy. "I was 9 and you'd just turned 10 and you thought you were muy muy. Esta perron."

Mal chewed on her lip, trying to stay focused through the cloud that Evie's eyes and accent were putting her mind in. It was so clique to be so turned on by Evie's accent but _fuuuuck_.

"The first one of la banda to turn 10, to have two digits in your age." Evie scoffed as her fingers slid down Mal's jaw to the choker around her neck. She continued on with her story so conversationally, as if she were having a nice conversation with Mal over a drink rather than sending jolts of sensation through her with every touch. "You got all riled up while we were playing Bank Robber and you kissed me behind the General Junk shop, remember that?" Evie's smile turned a little nostalgic and the darkness in her eyes softened for a moment, just a moment, before returning full force. "Niña traviesa. That was my first kiss, you know." Her fingers slid around to the back of Mal's neck to undo the clasp keeping the choker taunt around her pale throat.

"Mine too." Mal heard her voice say, seeming to act of it's own volition while her brain tried not to melt down the back of her spine as Evie leaned closer to her, mere centimeters between there lips now. "I...I want to...um...ya know...but I hav'ta deal with some...family business. And I think that includes some of the p-patrons of this saloon..." Mal babbled as she peered up into Evie's warm eyes. She almost whimpered as her tongue darted out to wet her lips and Evie's eyes followed the motion intently. 

Evie's eyebrows raised at that, her eyes turning contemplative as she stared at Mal for a few lingering seconds. "Por supuesto. Demonios." Evie murmured, more to herself than Mal, and Mal could still feel the vibration of her voice as her lips were suddenly pressed against Evie's.

Mal was immediately addicted to the sensation of kissing Evie, of Evie's soft lips brushing over her own, of the intoxicating mix of her perfume and the taste of alcohol on her breath, of the feeling of Evie's finger nimbly unbuttoning Mal's vest, of the warmth spreading through her body everywhere Evie touched her. Mal was just barely able to suppress a moan when Evie's teeth pressed into her bottom lip before her warm tongue instantly slipped out to sooth it. Mal was struggling to keep up with Evie's movements, her mind getting cloudier and cloudier with every nip of Evie's teeth and swipe of her tongue and slight pull as she teased Mal's bottom lip relentlessly. Mal knew Evie was something of an expert at these sorts of things but _fuck_ , the effect she was having on Mal was almost embarrassing.

Finally, Evie broke the kiss, allowing Mal to even think about breathing for the first time in the past several minutes. She felt dizzy and kind of light headed as she stared up at Evie. More so than she usually felt after a kiss like that.

 _Evie's eyes aren't blue...why do they look blue?_ She blinked a few times and the blue glow vanished. She found the same warm brown peering at her, curious and dark as ever. Evie gave her a little smirk, more a flash of teeth than anything else and leaned down to press her lips against the throb of Mal's pulse point.

_I think maybe I drank too much for all this._

The thought stayed trapped in Mal's mind as her mouth became too busy trying to swallow down a whimper to say anything. Evie's fingers had managed to unbutton her vest and the top few buttons of her shirt, exposing the skin of her chest to Evie's exploratory mouth. Evie pressed warm kisses to the almost faded scar that ran along the curve of Mal's breast, from a particularly creative outlaw with a barbed wire lasso. Mal winced a little bit at the memory, but her expression went slack when Evie slid the wet heat of her tongue along the path she'd just kissed.

"Evie..." Mal whimpered, cursing herself for sounding so, absolutely gone. "Evie...w-wait." Mal's sentence was punctuated by a moan as she felt Evie's teeth nip at the skin of her collarbone, soothing the bite a second later with her tongue. "Evie...just...fuck...slow down!" Mal squirmed underneath Evie, uncomfortable with the heat pooling between her legs as Evie continued her ministrations. A few seconds later, Evie relented, leaning back to admire the marks she'd scattered across Mal's pale skin. She smirked at the sight of Mal, all flushed pink from her chest to her hairline, her vest falling half way down her arms and her shirt now even more revealing than it had been before. Her blonde hair was tousled, falling out of the already loose purple ribbon braid it had been put it and her emerald eyes were fluttering as if she was having trouble staying focused and clear minded. Evie couldn't help the pride that swelled in her chest at the accomplishment of causing Indifferent Mal to look so positively disheveled.

"Stop looking so smug." Mal groaned, though her words still sounded a bit slurred as she tried to sit up a little.

_How much did I drink? Evie can't really be havin' this much of an affect on me, can she?_

"Make me." Evie countered, pressing on Mal's shoulders until she leaned back into the cushions of the couch. Mal stared up at Evie's koal lined eyes, contemplating if she should try to get away now, deal with her daddy's thing and get the hell out of Dodge...or well, Isle, or if she should just enjoy this beautiful girl trying to shove her hand down her pants.

Her libido won out.

Mal surged forward, almost knocking them both over onto the floor as their mouths connected, wet and hot and Mal felt like she was seconds away from melting. That dizzy, light headed feeling washed over her again as Evie's tongue explored her mouth. The need to breathe didn't even occur to her until the feeling of Evie's hips grinding down into her lap made her groan.

"Stay still." Evie murmured, her hip setting a steady, grinding rhythm that made Mal want to do anything but stay still. "Mal, look at me." Mal blinked. She hadn't realized she'd closed her eyes. She was finding it pretty hard to focus on anything right now, not just because of the feeling of Evie's hips, but also because of whatever cloud was drifting through her head. A cloud that felt very Evie. Evie's hands were pressed to either side of face, sliding down to her shoulders when Mal's eyes finally focused on hers.

"Shit, E." Mal whined, her hands sliding up Evie's thighs to hold onto her rocking hips as they ground hers further back into the cushions beneath her. "Just...fuck." Mal breathed, digging her fingers into the fabric of Evie's shorts.

"Mal," Evie lifted Mal's head with a finger underneath her chin as Mal's focus started to drift again. "Mal, I need to know before..." Evie bit her lip and shifted her jaw; A tell Mal remembered from their childhood. She was hiding something. But that thought was jumbled into the tangle of others swirling around her head. "Was it easy for you to leave...to abandon me...and Carlos?" Evie finally said, her fingers sliding down to the corner of Mal's jaw while her thumb stayed underneath her chin, tilting it up.

"No." Mal said instantly, her voice low and her eyes dark and unfocused. "I didn't want to. But I had to." Mal's eyebrows pressed together, as if she'd just noticed she was speaking.

"Tell me more." Evie promted, her other hand sliding down to where the purple crystal rested on Mal's collarbone. Evie's fingers purposefully skirted around the crystal itself, instead opting to trace along the skin of Mal's chest. "Tell me why you had to leave without so much as a goodbye." Evie's eyes flashed and Mal was almost certain this time that they took on a blue hue. Something, a memory, an alarm bell ringing in the back of her head, told her that she was in trouble, but her body felt so heavy now that she tried to move, tried to get out from under Evie's touch. It was like every one of her bones had a weight tied to it.

"I was runnin' away from the curse on my bloodline...the duty that came with it. I didn't want it...I was afraid..." Mal's voice seemed to speak of it's own volition as Mal's fingers pressed harder into Evie's hips. "So, Jay and I decided we were leavin'...but...we couldn't say goodbye to you or Carlos...I stood outside of your house for an hour trying to muster the strength...but I just couldn't..." Mal's cheeks seemed to turn a whole new shade of red as words spilled out of her mouth.

Evie seemed to be caught off guard by what Mal was saying, her eyebrows pressing together. The steady back and forth of her hips slowed down until they came to a complete stop. Mal felt like a portion of the cloud in her head cleared as Evie drew one of her hands back.

"Is that true?" She asked, her left hand letting go of Mal's jaw to slide down her neck. Mal nodded as more of the clouds parted in her mind, letting her think clearly, letting her move her limbs, letting her remember something very important---

_BANG! BANGBANG! BANG!_

Mal's eyes went wide as the gunshots rang out, followed by a scream and some shouting. The handle of her revolver was instantly pressed into her palm, the hammer pulled back and the barrel aimed at the curtain behind Evie's back. She pushed on one of Evie's hips, allowing herself to slide out from under her and make her way across the room.

"Stay here." She said to Evie as she peaked out of the curtain carefully. She buttoned her shirt back up with one hand as the light of the Garden slipping through the curtain painted a strip of gold over her face. She turned back to Evie and tugged a gun out of the holster strapped to the small of her back. "Anyone comes in here who isn't me, kill 'em." She said, flipping the gun in the air and catching it by the barrel to offer out the handle to Evie. Evie hesitated for a moment, and then took the gun, uncomfortable with the weight of it in her hand. Mal gave her one last look, something in her eyes keeping Evie silent as she turned around on her heels and shoved the curtain out of her way as she stepped through, gun already aimed at the first person to look at her.

Ben, prince of Auradon City dressed in his blue ditto suit and his golden waistcoat with his white tie, looked absolutely terrifying. His pristine clothing was splattered with red--blood, and his face was smudged with ash. His knuckles were going white, gripped around a jagged peice of wood held up in his hand. His eyes, wild, met Mal's gaze and something like relief rippled over his features. That is, until he was staring down the muzzle of Mal's revolver.

 _Bang!_ Ben squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact.

 


	4. In the corner of my lovesick thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter full of demon slaying and a reveal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for missing a few updates, things are pretty hectic on my end. ALSO sorry this is such a short chapter. I will post a longer one next monday!! Hope you enjoy and I also hope you are all doing well!   
> <3

It never came.

Ben eyes fluttered open slowly, only catching a glimpse of blonde hair brush past him. He turned to see Mal kneeling next to--

"Quick, she's not gonna stay down for long, give me that stake." Mal held out her hand and Ben complied to her demands instantly, placing the piece of wood into Mal's palm. She barely curled her fingers around it before she raised it high above her head and brought it down, hard, into the chest of the woman lying on the floor with a bullethole in her neck.

Ben was going to vomit.

The woman, who until that moment seemed to be a corpse, convulsed as her eyes flew open and she let out a terrible shriek. Her body seemed to begin to burn and crumble like a piece of paper on top of hot embers, fire crackling over her skin, through her dress, disentigrating her. A smell, familiary and musky filled Ben's nose.

He'd been through camps of settlers in the further reaches of Auradon Territory. He'd seen them burn the bodies of the natives they fought, seen them burn their homes with them still in it. He knew the smell of burning flesh.

In a blink, the woman ha been reduced to a pile of ash on the floor. Mal retrieved the stake from the ash and turned to Ben, almost smiling. "Welcome to Isle Township, human population 18, demon population 38." She said as she stood up and brushed the ash off of her clothes. "Oh, excuse me, 37."

"36." Ben amended, his voice a little higher than normal as he stared wide eyed at Mal. She _was_ smiling now at the second pile of ash a few feet away, almost as if she enjoyed this, as if this wasn't the most terrifying thing ever, as if vomit wasn't burning at the back of Ben's throat.

"Nice stabbin'!" She clapped him on the back, suprisingly hard for such a little girl, and then glanced over his shoulder. "Uh oh."

Ben barely had time to turn around before a voice sqreeched through the air. "Mallory Kaliyah Fae!"

"Fuck," Mal groaned as a dark haired man, the man Ben distincly remembered as being one of Evie's background dancers earlier that night, stomped toward them. His face looked different now though. It was warped in anger and sadness, Ben could see that, but his features also seemed to be darker and more...jagged.

 _Oh_ , and he had gleaming fangs peeking out from beneath his lips now.

"You---you ruffian!" The man shrieked, jabbing a long, pointed fingernail in Mal's direction. "You and your _man_ dusted my sweet, beautiful mother. How dare you!" The man sank to his knees and dragged his hands across the floor, trying to gather up the ash into a pile. "It's okay, mommy, it's okay." He whispered to the pile. "I've got you."

Ben, confusion crinkling his brow, turned his head to look at Mal, whose nose was crinkled in something much closer to disgust. "Pull it together, Anthony. Lucifer's kittens!" Mal shook her head.

"Lucifer's wha--" Ben began, only to be cut off by a hiss from Anthony.

Anthony's head snapped up and suddenly Ben could see exactly which parts of his face were different now. His brow now petruded further than before, deep lines forming between his eyebrows, making him look permenantly pissed off. His eyes shown yellow and dilated rather than the warm brown they had been before and dark red circles formed beneath them, the red seeming to leak into the tiny veins that travelled away from his eyes. And his teeth were still absolutely terrifying. Of course.

Ben stumbled back as Anthony hissed and snarled like some cornered animal. Mal's gun was pressed to his forhead before he could even begin to move toward her, and he immediately seemed resigned to his fate. "My grandmother will make you pay, Mal Fae! You hear me! She'll tear you into little bite sized pieces, you bitch!"

"I hope she tries." Mal grinned maliciously down at the man, covered in dust and hissing viciously at her.

_BANG!_

Anthony's body barely even moved for the first few seconds, his eyes trained on Mal until light seemed to crack across his face, like lightening, and his body went limp, crumbling to the floor, a pile of dust before his head hit the boards.

"I'm gonna die tonight." Ben whimpered, running his hand through his hair.

"There you go, you big mama's boy." Mal said, dragging the toe of her boot through the dust piles, mixing them together.

"Get some!" Jay held, a blur of red and yellow as he sprinted past them, chasing someone---or thing--down with the sawed off shotgun Ben specifically remembered seeing behind the bar in the saloon earlier that night.

"MAL!" Mal's ears pricked at the call of her name and the voice--

"Evie?" Mal spun on her heels, gun hammer pulled back and ready to be aimed at whoever had dragged Evie out of hidi-- _Holy shit._

Evie, still in only her shorts and loose corset, was digging her nails into the face of a man twice--no, nearly three times her size. He was sinking to his knees, arms limp at his sides, not even trying to fight back.

Mal's eyebrows knit in confusion.

Once the man was on his knees, Mal could see Evie--really see her... _ya know, figurively and literally._ Evie's eyes glowed blue and hazy behind her darkened eyelashes, her mouth was open and an almost glowing line of what looked like smoke or fog or  _something_ traveled between them. _It's like she's sucking the...the...the life out of him!_

Mal watched, slackjawed and frozen. Not suprised at what she was seeing anymore, but only suprised it took her so long to remember.

_"Mal, my sweet baby girl." His eyes were so warm, his thick blonde hair curling off of his forehead. He smiled up brightly at her as he held her up above his head. "You must be careful at Evie's house. She is still so young...too young for..." He brought her back down into his arms and looked around them, then he leaned in like he was telling a secret. "The curse." He grinned. "But her mother is not. Her mother is a full grown succubus!" He seemed excited, talking about Evie's mother the way he talked about the different kind of frogs they found down by the river._

_"Succubus?" Mal asked._

"Succubus." Mal said, watching the man's body fall limp at Evie's feet. Their eyes met and Mal watched the blue fade away to the warm brown beneath. 

_Fuck._

 


End file.
